Legal Question in Entertainment Law in New York

Re: Responsibility of Rock Band to Venue

The terms of your contract will probably derive from the emails you exchanged with the club and verbal statements your band and the club made regarding your show. You don't have to have a signed piece of paper to be bound by contract. Not knowing what exactly was said, no one can tell you what your liability for the monetary losses to the club might be for a no-show. The general rule is that if you are in breach of your obligations under the contract, you may be (with some exceptions) responsible for the damages to the other party caused by your breach. Also, not having a written agreement (which could have limited or completely eliminated your liability), this is going to degenerate into a "he said, she said" type of argument, which is, of course, the whole point of having to reduce contracts to a writing, even if a very basic one.

As a practical matter, though, apart from any legal considerations, unless the damages the club claims are substantial, the cost of suing the band is likely to make any legal action for the club (except for the small claims court) economically impracticable. This is not to say that your band may not have other things at stake, such as future gigs at that club, the band's reputation, etc.

The above reply is in the nature of general information, is not legal advice and should not be relied on as such.